Obama vs. McCain Round 2

[First, this gambling bulletin: Your blogger, who bestrides the Vegas scene like a collossus, hit the blackjack tables at New York New York last night and walked away with $30 in winnings. I believe this level of wagering makes me a "whale" in Vegas parlance. It's high-rollers like me that keep them building 5,000-room hotels. Stand back, whale coming through!]

The debate: The format greatly favored the lithe Obama. On the body-language intangibles he won in a rout. This may sound superficial, but superficial stuff matters in moments like this, when people are trying to decide if they're comfortable with the prospect of a certain person being their president for the next four years. (Or eight: Note how Obama announced his re-election bid in 2012, referring to what he'll do in "my first term.") Obama comes off as smooth, confident, and has a great baritone that surely registers with many voters as presidential. Score this another strategic victory, even if some of his talking points are now way, way past their sell-by date (dare one say boring as the day is long).

One thing jumped out: McCain upping the ante on the mortgage bailout.

This relates to something I've actually been talking to people about. Before dashing back to my hotel room to watch the debate, I spoke to a couple of officials with the Las Vegas board of realtors. They said most of the foreclosures here involved out-of-state investors, rather than families living in their homes. They also noted that, as part of the government's efforts to bail out the mortgage market, there's a program to help people restructure mortgages. But there's a cut-off: You can't have a mortgage of more than $428,000. A lot of people here have mortgages greater than that, and they're hurting, because, for example, they may have bought a house for a million dollars at the boom (perhaps with no money down) and now it's worth only $600,000. So they're upside down in a very large mortgage. No government program will help them.

Or would John McCain? Right out of the gate, McCain offered an attempt at a big newsmaker of a proposal: He would instruct his Treasury secretary to buy up "bad" mortgages and then refinance the homes at the current market value.

But would that include homes owned by investors?

And by affluent people in McMansions?

No to the first. According to the McCain campaign's press release on the American Homeownership Resurgence Plan, the only homes eligible would be primary residences. But it's not clear that there's a cut-off in the size of a mortgage. (Can someone help me clarify this?)

I'm not sure the taxpayers want to come to the aid of people who bought million-dollar houses (which is not to say that such people are necessarily millionaires by any means -- the housing boom here turned a lot of unspectacular residences into "million dollar homes").

'Under McCain's plan, the Treasury Secretary would buy your mortgage from whoever owns it and then deal with you directly. In many cases, the Treasury Department would already own your mortgage, because it is about to buy up $700 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities. But under McCain's plan, Treasury would also become your loan servicer...

'If Treasury were also to become the loan servicer for hundreds of thousands of mortgages, it would have to outsource those duties, too. And those jobs would go to a lot of the same people who lowered their lending standards during the housing boom, put people in mortgages they couldn't afford and then sold those mortgages to Wall Street. McCain's plan is redundant, and it would create significant new responsibilities (and costs) for an already-beleaguered agency. I'm not sure what the campaign was thinking.'

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One last note before I head back to the mean streets of Vegas: McCain suggested Warren Buffett as the next Treasury secretary and Obama kind of endorsed the idea. Buffett has become one of the most fascinating characters during this crisis, and not simply because he's buying equity in companies in chunks of three or four or five billion dollars. He's become the symbol of hope: The one guy who hasn't despaired, who's not panicking, who sees opportunity in disaster. Save us, Warren!!!

Political historians often talk about how John Kennedy won that famous debate against Richard Nixon because Kennedy was tv-ready and photogenic while Nixon looked sweaty, shiny and five-o'clock-shadowy. Viewers who watched last night's debate between Barack Obama and John McCain saw something similar, I think. Whatever the score was on the issues, Senator Obama clearly won the theatre portion of the evening.

Obama projected a presidential air on the stage - he was calm, relaxed, graceful and seemed to embody authority.

John McCain was pacing like an animal in a cage. At times he stalked from point to point on the stage like a kid in a school play trying to make sure he hit his marks - "My friends, [stop here] my record is clear. [go there] I have a strong record [stop here] on the issue."

Where Barack Obama's baritone is steady, warm, and even, John McCain's voice is thin, reedy, and - it has to be said - whiny. Where Obama was conversational, McCain beat the words "my friends" to death with repetition.

If last night's debate had been an episode of "America's Got Talent" - or, better yet - "The Gong Show," Obama's performance would have won. Hands down, my friends.

I think obama rocked the house last night in the debate between Obama and "The Mummy." It appeared to me very disrespectful calling Senator Obama "That One." Umm McLame what does that mean? It appeared very racist and prejudice to me. McLame lacked substance and style. He was walking all over the place as if it was a 10-mile marathon...Geshhh man can you have a seat please..lol. He was very dull and boring and also lacked specifics. McLame you should suspend your campaign early because the winner is.........BARACK OBAMA!

wilbrod - so sorry about your gmom - my gmom also died of sudden coronary failure in her favorite chair (7 years ago). personally, i think that's the best way to go - suddenly, with no pain, in your favorite place. *virtual hugs for your loss*

i STARTED to watch the debate - wanna be an informed voter donchaknow! - but i noticed that mccain, instead of NOT looking at obama, made a point of looking towards him but PAST hime - i didn't see any eye contact whatsoever... also when he said we don't know who fannie mae or fannie mac are i got disgusted and changed the channel - i tivo'd it so i may go back and watch it... or delete it... with much delight. Tom shales has a good article on the debate:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/08/AR2008100800057.html?hpid=topnews

with this being the best line:
"The debate had the aura of an almost meaningless ritual being conducted in a soundproof room while outside, panic and calamity were spreading like giant cracks in the earth."

McCain walks into territory we've never heard of with "that one." Most would have gone with "that guy" instead of the last-second mental evasive action which was not even all that necessary in today's less formal culture.

Obama's only get-back is to refer to McCain as "the Other." Or "my opponent, the Baying Hound of Doom."

I'll tell you the biggest loser was in the debate, and that's the American public. For the most part, same old tired talking points. Or the vague, evasive answers. Since answers smacked of the same replies, with some of the same wording, in the first debate, I was disappointed, a a little bored.. I agree with Shales this morning.

As for new material:

OBAMA: "It means that we are cracking down on CEOs and making sure that they're not getting bonuses or golden parachutes as a consequence of this package. And, in fact, we just found out that AIG (NYSE:AIG) , a company that got a bailout, just a week after they got help went on a $400,000 junket.

"And I'll tell you what, the Treasury should demand that money back and those executives should be fired. But that's only step one. The middle-class need a rescue package."

LLNews has it that that junket cost $440,000. And tell me, Obama, exactly, how Congress or the federal government is cracking down on CEOs? And the AIG folks SHOULD be fired? And the government is going to do the firing? Shall we talk about how greedy individuals like Fulk are? (And a BOO to those who know apparently absolutely zero about Las Vegas history? No mention of Meyer Lansky or the Flamingo? Just politically correct revisionist history and outrage directed at me?)

Contrast the statements by Obama with the following:

Track the Extent and Cost of Corporate Crime: The Department of Justice should establish an online corporate crime database. Also, just as the FBI issues an annual street crime report, "Crime in the United States," it should also publish an annual report on corporate and white collar crime with recommendations.
Foster a National Discussion on Corporate Power: Establish a Congressional Commission on Corporate Power to explore various legal and economic proposals that would rein in unaccountable giant corporations. The Commission should seek ways to improve upon the current state corporate chartering system in a world of global corporations and propose ways to correct the inequitable legal status of corporations as "persons." The Commission would be led by congressionally-appointed experts on corporate and constitutional law, and should hold citizen hearings in at least ten cities followed by a public report and recommendations.

The above ideas are from the Nader website.

I miss Shiloh, and agree with him that discussion of what the candidates wives wear at the debates and who has the better outfit is inane. Smart people have better things to do than dabble in this.

What I remember of the reports of the Kennedy/Nixon debate is that people who listened on the radio thought Nixon had won while those who watched it on TV gave it to Kennedy.
Last night I was doing dishes, boodling, annoying the dog, and the like so I was primarly listening to the debate rather than watching. McCain came off as truculent and condescending, desperately trying to segue every question into an attack. Unfortunatley for him the attacks were so lame he came across like a grampa who's pissed he find his slippers.
If I was to supply my own visuals I'd imagine Obama smiling indulgently while a dememtia patient whacked him with a Nerf bat.

See Out Takes From Last Nights Debate, Obama and McCain practicing for the debate and the mistakes they made. http://www.watchdebate.com

Watch a video of McCain dropping the F-Bomb
in a video http://www.mccanes.com

So I just saw a new poll come out....Dream tickets for the president. Huckabee/Palin comes out 5 to 1 over McCain/Palin. Perhaps the RNC should switch out McCain for Huckabee, they might have a better chance at the white house this year cause I just can't see Obama loosing at this point. The problem is news stations are already calling the race for Obama.....switch it up and have a chance, or should we all stay home and just let Obama take the white house? see poll at http://www.mccanes.com/watchdebatevp.html

I agree with Joel, seemed that the audience's eyes were on Obama even when McCain spoke, who seems out of touch and far beyond his 'best before' date. I never understood his answers but understood Obama very well. He's good at communicating. Although I think his remarks about Pakistan were a bit provocative... only point I agree with McCain.

Linda, you have a tin ear. Either you didn't read *Tim's post yesterday, or you didn't understand it. I'm guessing you understand the meaning of every word he used, but not the meaning behind how he strung those words together. Your insistence on including facts that have no bearing on the point you're making tends to get you into trouble that way. (BTW, you chose to use the word greedy; think about how the tone would have changed had you chosen entrepreneurial instead. Again, that tin ear thing.)

The clothing factor *does* matter. If a candidate's spouse were something of a frump, this would set off a few bells...if they are behind the times in their own lives, they will be behind the times as they attempt to influence ours. If they accept mediocrity in their own lives, what do they wish for the country? See? There's a lot of little nuances that influence how people vote. The relationship between a candidate and spouse also speaks volumes. The shoes matter because, well, they're shoes.

I missed most of the debate but I saw a cut of the the final sequence with McCain running out of there as if his bladder was about to burst. As Weingarten pointed out a few weeks back the best thing about being 20 years old is having a prostate the size of a walnut.

On another note, did anyone watch Bill Clinton on Larry King Live recently? He made the most obtuse remark... something to the effect---'well Larry, you and I won't really be affected by this (economic crisis), but the voters should care because this really affects them'... WHAT??? I'm sorry fat cat, it affects all of us, globally I might add.

What a thoughtless remark to make on national television. Larry looked quite uncomfortable... since that doesn't fit his 'image' as the average Joe. Who's he really working for anyway?

The point of a televised debate is so people can see and hear the candidates. Every choice - clothing, movement, gestures - has some meaning and conveys something. Also, I hate to point out the painfully obvious, but among our Boodlers are a blind person, for whom visual descriptions are helpful, and a deaf person who is highly attuned to body language and nuance. To acknowledge these things is not frivolous, but includes everyone in the conversation.

Warren Buffet. Hmmm. Who'd'a thunk that Warren Buffet and T. Boone Pickens, two rich old guys with long histories, would be the country's voices of sanity on the economy and energy, respectively? While everyone trusts Buffet (including me, wotta guy) the same cannot be said of Pickens. However, when the country needs it most these guys have both really come through. Pickens, especially, is like Nixon going to China on energy policy.

the key to the debate, it seems to me, was this little nugget: brokaw asks them both what would be their top three priorities. mccain says he doesn't need to put them in order..we can do everything at the same time...he knows how to do it, etc.--essentially admitting he has not thought about what he would do first and cannot do so 'on the fly'.

One could say that Michelle Obama's clothing choices reflect her husband's message of change. She does not dress the in the "political wife style" (just typing that bothers me - ick), she has a fresh image, nothing wild or crazy - just new and up-to-date.

Blinking could just be a reaction to bright TV lights.
Stiff body language could be due to injury or fatigue.
I'm more interested in what someone says and their record.
Of course in these post modern times, when you can decontruct someones inner being from the way they cut their toenails, I'm completely out of touch.

At the risk of reversing Dolphin Michael's unwarranted high opinion of my perspicacity for current affairs, here's an update of something that I posted to Gerson's blog before coming to work this morning. Gerson was, of course, totally taken by McCain's masterful performance last night, and especially his surprising and inventive new proposal for dealing with the subprime mortgage crisis (in fairness, the over-the-top wording is my synopsis of Gerson's not-so-exuberant prose):

A few days ago, I had the same thought about buying up home loans and refinancing them. Unlike McCain, apparently, I hinted then at the dawning realization that it couldn't really work. I have given it some more thought since then.

I don't know the total number of mortgages in the country at the moment, but I read in Joel's Dale City article that Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac now hold about 54,000 of them, and I recall that about 3% of mortgages are going bad. If we pretend that Fannie Mae now holds ALL the defaulted mortgages in the country (hah!), then that implies that there are 1.8 million extant mortgages. That suggests that the total number of extant mortgages is at least a few million, and more likely 10 million or more. Is McCain going to extend his plan only to houses facing foreclosure, or will it be available to every home-owner? I am one year into a 30-year loan. If McCain extends his deal only to defaulted loans, well then, I think maybe I can't afford to pay my note; please bail me out. His deal needs to be available to everyone. If we assume some ridiculously low average house price like $100,000, and assume that they have lost 15% value; then that is the amount that the government must pay off in order to retire the mortgage and then offer the home-owner (now, occupant of a gov't house) a new deal to buy it back. That means we are talking about something like 0.15 * $100K * 10 million = $150B just to turn around the mortgages at current house pricing. Is this part of Paulson's $700B, or in addition to it?

There is a finite number of real estate assessors out there, so they can't instantaneously re-assess every property at once -- it will take time. Every re-fi changes the market landscape. The sudden end to foreclosures will send real estate prices up again, so that people that get refinanced late in the process get a substantially different and less sweet deal than folks who are in the first wave, so that fairness suffers substantially. McCain's suggestion of a re-fi based on the home's "new value" is unfeasible, because that value will be rapidly changing while the process is underway. A decade's worth of housing price growth will be packed within just a year, perhaps.

An alternative is to recalculate everyone's loan based on current principal and a new (very) low rate. I heard this approach floated recently, I forget by whom. This is much more workable, but still -- it needs to be applied to millions of homes, because every homeowner will need to be included in such a sweet deal. That's a lot of closings. That's a lot of closing costs (what, you thought it could be conducted for free?). It has the benefit that the government doesn't have to pay off the original mortgage, the government just forces a rules change. An unfunded mandate, which we know is terribly popular with everyone. If you have had your mortgage for a while, however, it is not so clear whether it is a better deal to re-fi through the government, or to just keep paying your old loan. Because you would be starting a new loan term, you would be back to having most of each payment (at first) be interest; whereas, with the old loan, your payments might have been almost entirely going to purchase principal in a loan that is 2/3 over (for example). At least interest is deductible. If we're putting together a Republican New Deal, however, this might be the best moment to retire the market-distorting Mortgage Interest Deduction. THAT would make waves!

Where are all the financial advisers to help home-owners understand the costs and benefits of taking the gov't's re-financing deal? There is a LOT of decision-making required -- literally millions of decisions -- in anything like McCain's proposal. It may still be the right choice, but it can't be undertaken lightly, and it seems to me to be far from straightforward.

I dunno Boko, I think watching a stiff, angry old man pace the stage during his opponent's talk tells me a lot about someone. What kind of leader would that person make? What kind of diplomat or representative of my country?

Did anyone notice the first thing McCain did when he came out was write in his notes? What was he writing? Also... when Brokaw asked about the priorities, McCain had to ask him to repeat them so he could write them down.

I agree with Ivansmom that if these visuals weren't important, the candidates wouldn't be doing televised debates. It was interesting talking to DandyLion the other night about his impressions of McCain's running mate, having heard her but not seen her.

He seems to have the same impression we do, by the way--all fluff and no substance. But McCain picked her for the fluff--so he apparently thinks its important, too.

McCain's stiff body, awkward arms are due to his injuries under torture. Did you know he was a POW? The town hall format was supposed to favor him, though. Shales said he got so close to some of the audience members they looked scared.

The "that one" remark struck me as odd, rude, contempuous - couldn't even say his name. But it's not uncharacteristic for Republicans to act like the opposition is the enemy. Democrats are usually quite polite - Republicans are sneering and openly rude. Admittedly, I'm on the the Dems' side, but still...Remember the Edwards- Cheney debate, when Cheney claimed never to have met Edwards?

PLEASE, just read the transcripts — the stakes are very high ——– mccain is doing his part to point out the truth; “obama IS a fraud” but the media hides this fact ———— so, we need to help John —————- OBAMA IS THE EMPEROR WHO WEARS NO CLOTHES AND ONLY THE MINORITY WILL SAY THE TRUTH ——- WHILE MCCAIN IS A MODERN DAY NOAH, WHO SAYS THE RIGHT THINGS BUT HIS AUDIENCE DOESN’T WANT TO LISTEN ————- WE GOTTA HELP SENATOR MCCAIN ——– COME ON PEOPLE ———- THIS IS IMPORTANT ———- READ THE TRANSCRIPTS ———— OBAMA DID NOT EVEN GIVE A DIRECT ANSWER TO THE EASIEST QUESTION OF THE DEBATE ————— WOULD HE DEFEND ISRAEL AGAINST A DIRECT ATTACK WITHOUT FIRST GETTING APPROVAL OF THE U.N. SECURITY COUNSEL ? MCCAIN SAID YES, OBAMA DID NOT ANSWER - HE JUST RAMBLED ABOUT DIPLOMACY - READ FOR YOURSELF ————— IT’S IN THE TRANSCRIPTS ————– COUNTRY FIRST ————– MCCAIN / PALIN 2008

McCain=arrogant/pretentious. No doubt he is qualified to pursue the office of President. His years in government, becoming the consummate politician, may be, however, the most repugnant thing about him.

Obama=eloquent/conciliatory. The Democratic message is appeasing: compassion, respect, tolerance. Therein is its downfall. They are sometimes right; ethnicity, gender, economic standing, education, cultural heritage don’t dictate one’s worth. But they also require tolerance of lifestyle issues: religion, media choice, sexual choice, reproductive choice, gender identity. They insist that religious views stay in the home and not be imposed on others. They rant about people who would legislate a woman’s womb. Just because it's not right for YOU doesn’t mean it’s wrong for someone else, a unique individual with the right to live his own way.

They see themselves as progressive, but we have been here before: In those days...everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Judg21:25 You shall not at all do as we are doing here today-every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes. Deut12:8

I can’t say I like McCain. But I can never support, as a God-fearing person, the platform of relative morality.

It’s not too late. God, eternal & changeless, said to His people: if they will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chr7:14

dmd, I do admire Michelle Obama for trying something new, but that dress really missed the mark. I can live with the glittery zipper if that's the latest thing, but the silver bows on the front made it look like a little girl's dress or (apologies for repeating myself) a bad Christmas sweater.

On the other hand, the color of Cindy McCain's suit was so 1990's. And that mandarin collar. *shudder*

Obama paid attention to McCain, to the audience, to the moderator (who was terrible.) He answered without notes, was calm and informed; unflappable. That's what we need to represent our country. Strong diplomatic demeanor with strong principles. I'd love for the government to take over my upside down mortgage, though!! What a give-away. Suspect that if it does occur under a McCain administration, it will help those with more money than I! McCain does not see those of us with less than millions. Cake, anyone?

So, in concept -- if you want to use the race card, there are whites that are white trash, get slick with language and get others to "do their bidding". Its been that way for centuries ... and this is fact, white trash only have blacks to look down at ... they (white trash) says to their kind ... "we'll, at least we aren't black" ... so goes the siren song of the RepubliCONS, weird exclusive church goers, and the idiocracy ...

GO RENT THE MOVIE "IDIOCRACY" TO SEE HOW WHITE TRASH THINKS!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy

Yes, butlerguy, that was very interesting. Each of us has to prioritize things in our own life, from obligations to budget items. Why shouldn't McCain have to do so as well? If he hadn't thought about it, why not? If he had, why not share his priorities with us?

I watched all the debates so far and I have to say that Obama is the clear winner of all of them. Obama answered the questions more than McCain did. The only purpose of McCain in this debate is to attack Obama on his character. I really feel sorry for all the injuries McCain had but McCain looked like a mummy when he walks. Also he sound more like begging for your vote than gaining and winning it. He said he has a plan, then what the hell he was doing for 26 years in Senate while we get into this mess. Also he never explains how he is going to payoff if the government but off the bad mortgages which makes me not to buy his false tactic at the last few weeks of the election.

I am an independent voter with a 2-part question I would like to ask Governor Sarah Palin. I would like to be in any audience she is addressing to ask the question, in front of news crews. The question is about America. I am Joe average American who would like to ask a quest any Candidate should be able to answer. I am not affiliated with any group, business or media; therefore she could not blame anyone but herself if she could not answer the question. Please have some contact me and I will be willing to speak with them. Please E-Mail response with phone number I could call. Thank you – Mike T avenirphoto@hotmail.com

Grandpa McCrusty was at his finest last night - showing the whole world what kind of a person he is. I thought I was watching a robot mechanically stumble across the stage with both arms going up and down - kind of like R2-D2. Truth is, Obama would have won without any debates but now it's just going to be a landslide as McCan't is only shooting himself in the foot each time he's on the big stage (ie. suspending his campaign to piss off Letterman and make a photo op with the president as to make everyone believe he had anything to do with the bailout). Why do you think the first one fell apart...

All in all - we should also look at the 2 campaigns and how they are managed - the difference in strategies and key decisions that have been made along the way. Plouffe and Axelrod are far superior than whoever thinks they're controlling the other ticket and they themselves will decide this election (the candidates were just the vehicles - a hybrid with low mileage and good maintenance VS used diesel truck with bad brakes, multiple leaks, and a horrible CARFAX report) :)

I would just like to state that if McCain buys up 2.5% of mortgages in the US...what will he pay for them with...this is a huge amount of $$$ AND what does this do to the rest of us who bought homes we could afford with loans we could afford. Our homes aren't worth what we paid for them, BUT because we were responsible and can cover their costs we will have to bear the burden of our inflated mortgages while idiot speculators and just plain idiots get a freebe...NO WAY.

the state department already has a bureau dedicated to corporate crimes amoung other things... i think this is a NEW catagory of corp crime that hasn't yet been defined b/c it's never happened before.

i know that mccain has a stiff body b/c he was badly injured - it's not his stiff body that bothers me. it's his rude attitude and snide remarks. i don't want an asshat representing my country - we are already looking like idiots to the rest of the world - we very badly need to improve our global image. mccain and palin seem to be the only ppl that think that we are still the greatest country in the world and don't need to improve anything.

Subjecting government benefits to means testing is always tricky. A philosophy of help the poor and abuse the rich really isn't quite right. Not only does it violate the whole idea of compassion for all, but it also implicitly assumes that what is bad for the rich is always good for the poor. If only that were true.

What means testing requires is wise people to examine each individual case and make an honest assessment. Sort of like loan officers in reverse. The problem, of course, is that finding such Solomons is problematic. And giving them sharp swords to deal with especially complicated cases is even more so.

OK, that does it. The Bunker is now open. Bring port wine cheese, triscuits, prosecco, tylenol. Stat. Also a good book.

Slyness, how are we fixed for paper products? dbG, could you fax us another carton of pretzels? Thx.

FYI, Tim, about a week or two ago I posted a long screed proposing that the mortage problem seemed to me to be a relatively easy fix, with the gummint buying up the lame mortgages, and re-financing them. Seemed like deja vu last night to me.

*Tim, I think you have some of your numbers wrong - I believe the GSEs hold a *lot* more than 54,000 mortgages in their portfolios, and have secuiritized and sold off slices of far more than that, too. IIRC that 54k is how many forclosed properties they're putting back on the market...

Boko, I understand you're more interested in substance, but much of people's thought and decision-making comes from the subconscious. The little things people can't - or won't - put their fingers on when they're consciously thinking have an influence on decision-making. For example, how many people say they have a "bad feeling" about Obama when on a subconscious level they are uncomfortable with the color of his skin, or say they don't like McCain's foreign policies when they don't like his hair, suit, or his age?

I believe appearances and small behaviors - the little things - contribute to how we think about anything or anyone via our subconscious, and how we rationalize actions.

One last thing: words have power.
A small scalpel wielded one way can save a life; wielded another, can take it.

To arbitrarily divide the world between knowledge that is worthy and knowledge that is unworthy is intrinsically absurd because it assumes a functional model that is impossible to verify.

Specifically, the assertion that talking about how candidates dress is frivolous assumes that voters don't care about appearance. Yet, without proof, the assertion degenerates into a statement of bias.

What the assertion implies is that fashion matters little to the one making the accusation, and nothing more. And for an individual to assume that everyone in the world shares his or her bias is both ignorant and arrogant.

*most arms are for two years, correct? and we've been going thru this mortgage crisis for close to 3 years so doesn't that mean most of the ppl in danger of losing their house have, in reality, already lost it?

*as many other have said - what about MY mortgage? i'm 30 yr fixed but the value of my property has declined as well...

Loomis says: " (And a BOO to those who know apparently absolutely zero about Las Vegas history? No mention of Meyer Lansky or the Flamingo? Just politically correct revisionist history and outrage directed at me?)"

I should have thought you would see that the criticism was about irrelevance and thoughtlessness, not factual accuracy. We/I did not question a single tick about Las Vegas history. I am perfectly aware that Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky were Jewish. I didn't know, but don't care, that Siegel was Ukrainian. That's the point -- these details are secondary to the fundamental fact that Siegel (cited yesterday) and Lansky were mobsters. The ethnic flavor of that gangsterism is not the primary issue, but you put it before mobster in your descriptive adjectives. Your specification of "Jew mobster" is not merely 'politically incorrect', it is active bigotry (whether or not that was your conscious intention). You have an absolute obsession with heritage as a descriptor of present features. You label him "a Jew" (a thing, a species), rather than "Jewish" (belonging to an ethnic group and a community), and you combine "Jew" and "mobster" indicating that "Jew mobster" is some sort of special class of mobster, rather than a mobster who happens to come from some community. All mobsters come from some community, else there would be no one among whom to organize any crime and on whom to prey. To specify the ethnicity as a primary descriptor when the ethnicity is one of the smallest identifiable ethnic groups in the U.S., and an ethnic group that has been slandered and libeled for millennia by the larger population, is like a declaration that the ethnicity is essential to his mobsterism. That is what makes it bigotry.

Do you begin to see the problem with stating group affiliation as the primary attribute, with individual identity following only secondarily? The first two are KKK-ish or Nazi-ish (to those groups, "Jew" is derogatory and disqualifies the positive connotations of either "scientist" or "politician"). The last three conflate minority-group status with negative societal role. All *technically* accurate descriptions, but with a giant freight of negative connotation, implying that the ethnic group is the principal feature creating the bad person. All most definitely statements of bigotry.

In all seriousness, I am always astounded at the fact that we have living organisms on this planet that range in life span from an insect that can be born, mate and die in the course of one of Brokaw's questions to the turtles.

I guess there is a "natural selection" factor, but, if that is the case, I would have naturally selected something longer than an afternoon. Of course, making it with the right insect may be the ultimate high.

I was out last night and didn't get home till about 10:15. Turned on the TV long enough to see McCain droning on about nothing in particular, then turned on a rerun of "House". I generally agree that the debates have become almost a useless waste of time and money. You can't hardly ever get the candidates (whoever they are) to get off their talking points (see Palin, S) for fear that they might say something controversial or news-worthy. About all they're good for any more is for the visuals. Also, these campaigns now go on MUCH too long. Can't wait for November 5th.

These pathetic, ludicrous, ugly republicans such as Bush, Chaney, Rumsfeld, McCain have led us into a gloomy, slavish, dysfunctional dungeon of a nation; They were able to achieve this based on using that most abundant of American resources: FEAR- as their power card: by over-hyping a relatively modest (9/11) disaster by the standards of human history, and what is more shameful a situation pulled off by 25 rag heads, and some other Gang Bangers hidden in the desolate mountains of northeastern Afghanistan.

These are people whose major weapons were box cutters, and a few thousand old soviet weapons. They defeated us (blind McCain’s vision aside) by tricking us into to using up our treasures-youth's blood, genius, wealth and moral capacity, and the capacity for heroism by buffoonishly running for the wrong goal post 1500 miles to the west and "comically" unraveling in this process what was left of the American dream. Americans have become a base nation because of our decadent, materialistic non-idealistic tradition, and a profusion of organ grinders monkeys like Sean Sanity parroting the foulest of narcissistic jingoist rhetoric
In this situation the only problematic is distinguishing between the fools, and the craven larcenous conmen from the ranks of the republican conservatives.

This whole group Palin, McCain and the other primitive republicans
Primates aren’t deserving or worthy to clean Obama’s shoe.

We better elect him because he certainly looks like the only 21 sty century
Presently available- as opposed to that nasty snarling little Gollum creature that is McCain.
D Screed

Yesyesyes I understand. But I know someone is trying to sell me a bill of goods when his actions belie his words. I don't know that he's lying just because he blinks a lot under intense lighting. You should have seen the blinking when my Uncle fired up the rack of lights he used with his Super8® movie camera. All the little kids who had been trained to 'Duck and Cover' disappeared under the furniture.

And the rambling answer Obama gave was basically: it depends.
1) We would prefer to win UN approval if possible, but Russia and China could hold that up.
2) So, we will not let the UN boycott our right to self-defense if that becomes necessary.
3) Because nuclear weapons are a direct threat that isn't so easily destroyed by invasion, we want to work diplomatically to prevent that threat from occuring.
4) Iran's infrastructure is already having problems, if we can put the squeeze on that, they're not going to have an easy time developing nuclear weapons under our noses, rendering the question moot.
5) *gives examples where lack of diplomancy worsened the nuclear situation in Iran and North Korea*

Remember, McCain already ridiculed him for giving "provocative" remarks about Pakistan by saying things bluntly before. Now you have to use a decoder (Which I got in my Obama donor packet) to understand that his answer was "no"... or instead, use your brain and hear that when he talked about diplomancy, he is saying that acting unilaterally should be a last choice, but it is also a choice that should always be kept on the table.

mo, he sounded as if he wanted to help out everyone who is upside down on their mortgage, but not a lot of detail was offered.

I just don't know how to implement this in a way that differentiates between those who were duped, those who knowingly bought a more expensive house than they could afford, those who took equity out of their homes to finance vacations (vs. those financing a child's education?), those refinancing to provide money for their gambling habit (yes, I know of one), etc.

The fact that some don't want this to apply to million-dollar homes has also come up. But in 2005, weren't starter homes in some markets reaching that level?

Excuse me, let me get this straight: elyn22000 is explicitly stating that religious tolerance is A BAD THING? He/she/it is correct that the Democrats do maintain such tolerance as a specific element of party philosophy, but this is supposed to be A BAD THING? Which country does this person think we are in? Which Constitution is the foundation document of this country? elyn22000 is proposing that the First Amendment, the very first right considered by the founders to be so important that it needed to be singled out and placed front and center so that it would receive special recognition and protection, is THE WORST THING about one of our two primary political parties? And that opposition to it is THE BEST THING about the other party?

If this 'thinking' is representative of many voters, then our nation is in deep trouble far beyond any piffling financial crisis.

Mo, along with your point... what about people who lose their home, but not through a mortgage failure.

Why are we focusing not on supporting a housing budget for those in need rather than fixating on the mortgage issue?

Just a question.

The working poor who rent have paid a fairly high rate of taxes if they didn't own their home. If inflation drives up rents, what then? Or if they have to look for another job and they miss a couple of months? What then?

As always, there are so many concerns. Once you start fixing one thing, one way, what about everyone else? Tim, thanks, again, as you touched upon this very same thing upthread for a different situation.

All I know is that, somehow, Rudy Giuliani is going to get paid some sort of fee for this as will Rick Davis and some how, McCain's friend, Raffaello Follieri, as well.

Y'all are too hasty with the bunker. Most of our new posters have stayed fairly nice and are easily scrolled past in any case. I say we stay and continue the Boodle.

RD, I liked your comments about means testing. Your description of the persons who should be responsible - wise persons who review each individual case and make an honest assessment - sound a lot like judges to me. After all, that's pretty much what judges do. Of course, right now bankruptcy judges don't have the discretion to review mortgage cases individually and make that honest assessment. I know it is the last thing the mortgage industry wants, but if someone's going to do it, it might as well be the people already in the system trained for such things. Perhaps Congress should revisit that issue.

PLEASE, just read the transcripts — the stakes are very high ——– mccain is doing his part to point out the truth; “obama IS a fraud” but the media hides this fact ———— so, we need to help John —————- OBAMA IS THE EMPEROR WHO WEARS NO CLOTHES AND ONLY THE MINORITY WILL SAY THE TRUTH ——- WHILE MCCAIN IS A MODERN DAY NOAH, WHO SAYS THE RIGHT THINGS BUT HIS AUDIENCE DOESN’T WANT TO LISTEN ————- WE GOTTA HELP SENATOR MCCAIN ——– COME ON PEOPLE ———- THIS IS IMPORTANT ———- READ THE TRANSCRIPTS ———— OBAMA DID NOT EVEN GIVE A DIRECT ANSWER TO THE EASIEST QUESTION OF THE DEBATE ————— WOULD HE DEFEND ISRAEL AGAINST A DIRECT ATTACK WITHOUT FIRST GETTING APPROVAL OF THE U.N. SECURITY COUNSEL ? MCCAIN SAID YES, OBAMA DID NOT ANSWER - HE JUST RAMBLED ABOUT DIPLOMACY - READ FOR YOURSELF ————— IT’S IN THE TRANSCRIPTS ————– COUNTRY FIRST ————– MCCAIN / PALIN 2008

Good op ed by Kissinger and Schultz. Earlier this morning text for article was missing.

During debate both candidates showed abysmal grasp on foreign policy. If Neocons remain entrenched in positions of influence, we're in trouble. I just hope that Obama was pandering to the lower common denominator of the electorate.
*Brag watching the Boodle's six o'clock*

I was not Obama's supporter but I was surprise how reasonable he was compered to McCain. Even his medicine program sounds reasonable. McCain sounds like he is going to open the gate to outsource medicine as well. He is talking about creating jobs but everything he is going to do is to outsource more jobs. Except probably tax cut. BUT it is not enough to stop outsourcing it is enough to finance another sceme like what we have now but it is not enough to improve economy. To bring jobs back through taxcut you need to create more "sweet" condition for industry, tax cut probably will bring in America more executives but not jobs. We still don't have cheaper labor here and we have to compete with Asian market that have their gov support. We don't. Moreover McCain wants to sacrifice any program excet support to executives, might be even science will be sacrificed. Though science actually could be a good investment as Obama said.

Healthcare, in a country that supports good healthcare world wide, is a RIGHT, Mr. McCain. Just like it was a RIGHT, to get you freed from your prison. It was not a responsibility! It was a RIGHT, when you had your melanoma surgey. It was not a responsibility. It is a RIGHT, to give Food Stamps to those who lost their jobs, because the people in Congress, and in the Pink Lite White House did not do the job they were hired to do, but had their own interst at heart.............My good Senator John McCain, acted like a caged lion, because like Senator Hillary Clinton, they do not know what to do, when faced with not winning. Quite honestly, listen, listen not with a made up bigoted mind, listen which person has the plans. Will they work I hope so, but it means more than just I know how to do things. There is only one man I would trust, to know how the things will end, and HE is no longer on this earth.

I must say, I really would like to cut back on the commentary on how the candidates move, how they dress, etc. It has some place, but I think we're over-doing it. Sartorial choices tell us a bit, but not all that much, especially with men, for whom there is a standard boring costume prescribed by society and that works well. The only mistake is to deviate from the standard.

McCain's physical gracelessness is, of course, because he was tortured. He moves brokenly, because his body was broken. Should we make fun of DandyLion because he is blind? Make fun of Cassandra because her hearing is impaired? Make fun of various boodlers who are not so tall? How would that be different?

So McCain doesn't look directly at Obama. So what? It might be contempt. It could very well be an after-effect of torture. The reason is not important and not really our business. I come from a family of people who have difficulty looking other people directly in the eye while conversing, a known psychological quirk. I know that I'm not the only Boodler with this issue. Many men signify careful listening by looking at a neutral point so as to concentrate on words and substance, which women often interpret as ignoring them. Many women look directly at men's eyes while talking with them, which men interpret as strong sexual interest. The last thing we need is another President who looks into the eyes of foreign leaders and believes he has learned anything other than eye color.

I understand that there will be voters who will make judgments based on such superficialities. It deserves some recognition, but it is fundamentally a horse-race issue. The horse race matters, but it shouldn't be everything.

Sorry to be so crotchety. I am procrastinating from necessary work, so I need to sign off for now.

McCain's one good line last night was that he looked in Putin's eyes and saw K-G-B. It was more of a slam at Dubya than anything else. Obviously the eyes are not the mirror into the soul they ought to be.

Not to harass McCain because of his war wounds (although I did spend an unseemly amount of time watching for him to raise his arms), but his plodding around the stage just emphasized the age difference between the candidates. And when he slapped an audience member on the back, I cringed. I'm uncomfortable with that much physical contact by someone soliciting votes.

I have a cousin who can't make eye contact unless he forces himself to. He definitely has mild Asperger's.

I told him that I just look at people's chins and monitor expression with both detail and peripheral vision, and that intense eye contact is actually a turn-off.

However, glancing at a person while talking is considered common conversational courtesy, as to indicate by a diffuse eye-point that yes, he's being addressed. It also allows one to monitor the other's facial expressions.

Men often sit side by side while talking to deemphasize threat of staring at each other while sharing space.

Obama did not make direct eye contact with McCain while talking, but he certainly looked at McCain while he was talking, rather than averting his head.

I think behavior has meaning if contrasted with other behavior from that same person.

When a person looks at and then practically climbs into questionner's lap but refuses to look at his opponent, that signals meaning, whether delibrate or not.

As for sexual interest, most men are hardwired to think that any interest from a woman can potentially be made sexual. It's not conscious, but it exists, and probably feels good too.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081003122545.htm

And to the matter of whether clothes make the man; research does show that feathers make the male bird.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080602121302.htm

We are discussing the trivial aspects, because we have already rehashed many of the actual messages sent out by both campaigns. If they have not said much new in this debate, we must therefore, focus on the pacakaging and presentation to see if they have done anything to alter their respective appeal.

Hey, Plain Tim -- just a shout out to tell you I really, really have appreciated your push-backs on Loomis re: Jew gangster stuff. Great job. Not that she will ever pay attention to it -- you know, seriously.

Mudge, how much more green tea (and in which flavors) do we need in the bunker?

I understand your point PlainTim, but one of the things I cherish about the Boodle is the free flowing nature of the conversation. It's like brownian motion in action. And, as such, often leads to unexpected places that are sometimes pretty darn interesting.

Having praised the impartial decisionmaking ability of judges to conduct RD's means tests, I must admit that asking any current collection of judges - federal mortgage, federal magistrate, state judges, administrative law judges - to jump into the bad-mortgage mess and reconfigure mortgages would just bring dockets to a standstill. There's so many of them, and the time pressure is so great. As (I think it was) mo pointed out, these mortgage defaults have the real-world real-time consequence that people are losing houses. The promise of an impartial review and reconfiguration after a few years, when a court can reach their case, is no relief at all. In fact, it would be cruel. Thus I'm afraid that a new category, say mortgage judges, would be required. More complexity.

I would hate to see the clothing, deportment, etc converstion constrained. It's a lot of fun and I suppose some information can be gleaned from it but these people (politicians, not trolls)are consiously dressing and rehearsing and being handled to within an inch of their lives for a performance in a completely artificial enviroment.
I'd prefer to observe them at home around breakfast time and give them a good look in the eyeballs.

I'm not sure I want to see anyone at home around breakfast time. That's why God made speakerphones for teleconferences. Maybe I'd join them for breakfast out, or mid-morning coffee, but there's some times and places so intimate I just don't want to intrude.

Sorry, Yoki, it's gosh-darned if you do, dagnabit if you don't. I tend to look at the chin, upper lip, or cheek -- I try to keep mixing them up. Just one of the things that makes me think I am an undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome person.

This can also explain why socially-awkward men often are accused of staring at a woman's chest. It may be true, but not necessarily for the reasons often cited. We're desperate to look anywhere BUT her eyes, and that pops up as a, uh, 'region of interest.'

As a middling poker player I'm aware of the importance of 'tells'. Online, you can tell if someone is angry and frustrated by the way they bet. They're easy pickings, as are the people who post rude and abusive comments in the chat box. I love beating them like a gong.

Poster Urthur who expressed support for "science", I hope you hang around.
Others are welcome too. I wish you'd carry a smaller stick, though. You don't need to beat us over the head...often just a touch is enough.

Loomis, I appreciate your shout out to the Nader web site. I hope you can appreciate why your words and style often scrape many of us raw.

You need someone who just reared a couple of babies in a row to get a candidate who's roaring to go within seconds at 03:00. I was pretty good at that 14-15 years ago, now my mind wonder aimlessly for the first minute or so.
The old dog needs 3-5 minutes to get his bearings if he is awaken during the night while the Very Large Pup is madly barking and rushing for the door within in 0.8 secs in the same condition.
So my guess would be that Palin would be the quickest to pick-up some steam at 03:00 but not necessarily the best deciderer after the first 5 minutes...

Yoki, I was also deeply startled to learn that looking into a man's eyes as we speak signals something I certainly don't intend in most settings, or with anyone other than my husband. I was also taught to look into another's eyes as part of my professional training. Of course, with me it is somewhat mitigated by the fact that I'm usually nowhere near eye level, and looking up.

I negelected to mention something I sometimes do when I'm making a presentation, knowing that suit jackets are typically taylored for elbows to be at the sides or relatively straight ahead from the shoulders.

I'm Italian, so I tend to talk with my hands and be somewhat demonstrative.

I've found that the simple act of unbuttoning my jacket helps my appearance and comfort a lot.

I'm at age and social position that a woman would have to do far more than look at me to suggest sexual interest. I'm pretty oblivious to most clues, so rapid winking, heavy innuendo, and light groping MIGHT raise my suspicion, but otherwise it's all lost on me.

Yes, how pathetic we are, who seek community wherever we may go. I guess we'll just whimper when accused of this non-accusation. By the psychopath terrorist. Scorned for seeking friendship. Oh really. Boo hoo. Bwah ha ha. Etc.

bc, that's why male ballroom dancers have to get their suits custom made. Normal suit jackets don't do so well with the elbows held out to the sides in a ballroom frame. (At our wedding, J took off his jacket to dance. Much the cheaper option.)

In Maureen Dowd's 'Are Men Necessary?' she describes the exotic clothing clothing stores available in the women-only portions of Arabian malls. The ladies are able to doff their burkas as soon as they are beyond the eyes of men. So your imagination may not be far off.

But then again, Saudi women can be arrested for having coffee with a non-related man in a co-ed place of business.

I am thinking now that context in conversation about rhetorical style is very important. That would, include boodle context, which is a public discourse string on the WWW

I happen to think that public conversation should include the style, gestures, clothing and other “rhetoric of personal presentation.” But, might not work well online, as do many serious and perhaps not-so-serious conversations.

As in this, posting this discourse to a place with a huge number of overehearers — a kind of eavesdropper — results in the silliness or stupidity factor of interpretation. Or, as we have seen, what looks like an ad hominem attack on posture, or ear size, or tie patterns.

I do believe, however, that knowing about how people perceive others — subconsciously, particularly — is a kind of literacy. I try to teach my students about this for all the important reasons about bigotry-unware but also because they tend to wear

and not think of the credibility gap they face when entering and establishing a career.

One of the reasons I study the personal presentation array of gestures, clothing, wearable art, voice control etc. is that I had the experience of feeling like an outsider — rural, MT v California, hayseed vs. haute, Catholic v. main line protestant, ethnic that was not as “low” as some but clearly not in the “best” leagues....

Learning the language, content, clothes, manners, etc., is a rather democratic move to walk the walk and enter some circles. We can behave like royalty and even the king should be polite to us, saying bromides that DO lubricate society like
Excuse me
I am sorry
Pardon me
Oh my, I did not know, please forgive me.....
Please
Thank you
Charmed, I am sure (Even if he thinks you are cowpie-equivalent)

Also, if we KNOW we are wont to make decisions based on the superficial, then as human beings and not animals we CAN MOVE BEYOND OUR BIOLOGIES. A fraction of our bigotry lies in our natures. We must first identify, then work to move beyond.

I think the psychological studies about the persistence of feeling “other” when seeing pictures of people of races and ethnicity OTHER than those of the viewer also teases out this human tendency to judge, quickly, based on visible information.

However, on the Ablog, much of this intentionality is lost.

Detail on McCain’s suit fit on his arms: He can afford a top drawer tailor; Cindy can perhaps lead him to sartorical fitted-ness. Perhaps because of the torture, he may truly want the slack in his sleeves. Good bless him on that! My reaction is that turtlenecks and woolen tights make we want to scream and rip the clothing off....we also have our Princess and the Pea moments, don’t we?

And, as BC says, unbutton the jacket for more ease in the torso and shoulders. SHORT people, particularly need this ease because of the ratios of arm length to other factors. More "drag" in the fabric drape when tailoring for shortness.

Finally, I am spiritually Italian and move and gesture and pivot and point and etc. in the classroom. I need loose clothing for that.

Back when I was taking classes in psychology I remember seeing a collection of pictures that purported to demonstrate all the ways the human face could display emotion. The collection consisted of many hundreds of pictures.

The face is incredibly expressive, and central to almost all of these are the eyes. Subtle, almost imperceptible changes can reveal a plethora of emotions. For example, the way to tell a fake smile from a real smile is by looking at the muscles outside the eyes. If these muscles are slightly scrunched, the smile is genuine. If they are not, the smile is faked. (Or botoxed.)

This ability to read faces is pretty innate, with the exception being those who have various autism-like syndromes.

The point is, there are as many types of stares as there are types of women. So, guys, we probably shouldn't get too worked up the next time a lady is saucy enough to look right at us.

Especially if they scrunch up the muscles to one side of their mouth. This, I seem to recall, means that they aren't believing a word that we say.

Yes, RD, humans display an astonishing variety of facial expressions and we often understand them without conscious thought - sometimes especially without conscious thought. What I find fascinating is that a cat or a rabbit can express a pretty wide range of emotions - pleasure, annoyance,excitement, skepticism - with very few facial changes.

Hi crushin'lurker! I love all these folks creeping out into the Boodle proper. Hey depice, and the other lurker from last week (mind like a sieve, I say), come on out and play. Also AZBlueHen, it was nice to hear from you this weekend.

Wilbrod, I read of your grandmother's passing. My thoughts are with you as your family grieves for her loss. As for your grandmother, my faith compells me to respectfully rejoice in the knowledge that another soul has passed through the gates. Certainly, your grandmother left many gifts to the world for all of us to enjoy.

Things are topsy-turvey in the schoolhouse, and I popped in during the mid afternoon to check out the new kit, only to find a lot of tosspots. Thank goodness that those posts have been vaporized. Last night, after the debate, I saw an interview of about two dozen people from Columbus, Ohio that had the CNN dial-a-reaction devices during the debate. The group was roughly split in thirds, 2/3 committed to one or the other candidate, and 1/3 undecided. The metering that was shown as a graphic during selected excerpts of the debate were largely favourable when Obama spoke of economic issues and some foreign policy issues, and neutralish for McCain regarding the same issues. The consensus was that neither did much to sway any opinions, and that both candidates were long on talking points and short on solutions. The interviewer concluded by asking the collective how they'd vote: the result favoured Mc Cain by three or four votes. A discussion ensued regarding the so-called Bradley/Wilder effect and how the polling data might be skewed by stated intentions and what could happen on election day. I wish this weren't the case. My hope is that the turnout on the Democratic side will be overwhelming.

what are all of you talking about?????????. our economy is falling apart, we have corruption right at the head of the democratic party, we have acorn trying to steal the election with fraudulant registration and voting in 10 of the battleground state an the press doesn't say anything about it., we have nuclear russian warships sailing to venezuela. and you all talk nonsense. wske up the world as we know it is disappearing before our eyes and we're suppose to worry about being folksy, old, black,senile. make fun of the way someone looks or talks etc. i'm afaid we are all going to wake up one day and we are going to look more like the society in china and russia and other third world countries. if we don't get this election right we can kiss everything we hold dear goodbye. i don't like either candidate. i am 69 and won't have too much time left to be affected by an obama presidency. but i have young nieces and nephews who i would like to leave this world in as good if not better condition than while i was in it. i really feel that the great american dream will no longer be there for them only a nightmare senario if he is elected. he is too unknown,inexperienced,to handle what in store for us. we have experts trying to solve the stock market effect and admit they don't k now if anything they do is going to work. i don't want an inexperienced president that has to depend on what the more experienced members of his administration tell him what to do. we are electing him not his people. if we want experience it better be at the top or we will get what we got the last time. an EXPERIENCED PRESIDENT LIKE GEORGE BUSH. IF THERE IS ANOTHER TERRORIST ATTACK WILL WE BE WATCHING A VICE PRESIDENT LIKE BIDEN DIRECTING THE ARENA WHILE OBAMA TELLS EVERYONE TO CALL HIM IF THEY NEED HIM WHILE HE RUNS TO HIDE LIKE BUSH DID. i don't want that again. mccain may not be the best but he certainly is the best that we are being offered. think about it and think about your kids when obama is on that plane wainting for a phone call telling him what to do. good luck
i have been
a democrat all my life. first voted for JFK.
but this time for very first time i will vote republican for mccain who we all know only wants one term. he will be trying to make a name for himself for history and do everything possible to achieve his goals. he won't be putting promises off till a NEXT term for there won't be a next term for him. i think he will try to get it right the first time for his own legacy and that will make it better for all of us.

rosie, I think you are very wrong. Perhaps you're not thinking clearly. How do your young nieces and nephews plan to vote?

This is a different world and Obama is not the incompetent you think he is. What makes you think McCain is more experienced? McCain was a spoiled, adulterous playboy who left a crippled wife to marry a younger, wealthier one. Is that the kind of experience we need?

Rosie, I agree times are dire. That's why I'm voting Obama. His ability to attract experienced and talented people to his cause makes a huge difference.

Bush had people who were working for Nixon. You think McCain knows anybody under 50 years old who hasn't already had a chance to bungle their role in the Bush or Reagan Administrations? Other than Palin. And I feel so extremely confident with McCain's vetting process, don't you?

have you really looked at the people that obama surrounds himself with. i don't mean the people on his campaign. yes they are all his age and mostly under 50. but they are not the people that he is going to use in his administration to help him run the country.
biden 65 years old
daschale in his 60's
ted kennedy in his 70's
chris dodd in his 60's
polosi we won't say
schumer 60's
buffett
look at all the clinton cabinet and administration people that are advising him.
i wouldn't say that these are the younger more exciting people that he is attracting AND SURROUNDING HIMSELF WITH.. the man is not completey stupid he knows good EXPERIENCE when he sees it. he just needs a few more years to acquire some of that EXPERIENCE.

Scottynuke - echoing crushin'lurker - thanks for posting all the pics from the MBPH.

Ivansmom - I suspect that there are many many lurkers like me out here. For myself, I find that by the time I have read something, someone else has said what I would have said - only much more eloquent. I find it difficult to post as the regulars here all have an eloquence that I could only dream of.

I've been a fan of Joel for years - but it was only last year that I noticed the Comments section

(*scrolling down - hey, what are all these comments about?)*

I don't remember the topic or even what was said, but I remember reading a post by RD Padouk and I think that was what hooked me.

gwe, it is a Rioja (literally "red" but in wine-talk equivalent to a Bordeaux) from the Borden winery (which I don't know).

The Spanish reds tend toward the large, tannic, dark and deep and lusty. A Beaujolais-lover wouldn't love them, and an aficionado of the common (start italics) vins ordinaire (end italics) of the Bordeaux region would. Because they are Spanish peasant wines they are naturally less refined and more basic than those self-proclaimed intellectual and superior yet inexplicably attractive French wines.

Scotty, I've bookmarked the photos. They are wonderful, thank you for sharing your talent and all your hard work.

AZBlueHen, I know exactly how you feel. I'm waay out of my depth with these folks, but boy, have they taught me so much I needed to know. I just wish we all lived in the same neighborhood. I'd love to be close to all the regulars.

Thank you Scotty. I hope you know how much you are appreciated, and not just for your photography.

AZBlueHen, I know exactly how you feel, it was very hard to join in here because I felt like anything I said would be extremely dull compared to everyone else’s posts. But I got over it - not the dull part - just the fear.

Riojas keep well gwe. They sometimes need more time than the French equivalent to reach their best value state. Spanish winemaker tend to go a little heavy with the wood, for my taste anyway. It's improving though, many rioja winemakers are now going lightly with the wood and the caracter of the wine shows better without all this oak sap. They still like to use new wood for the aging casks, so it could mean too much wood sometimes. Nothing is lost, a couple of years spent in the bottle calms down the exuberant woodiness. The riojas we are drinking these days are from the 2004/05 crop, they are still a pretty good deal but not the steal they were a few years back. Ole.

RD - I never read "Thunderstruck" but "Devil in the White City" was a little disappointing, I thought. Some interesting info on the World's Fair and the enormous effort involved, but the murder mystery part was a little weak.

Thanks, Scotty, for the pics! Everybody looked like they were having a good time.

AZBlueHen, please, you've seen my comments. That should let you know how low the standard is, so post away. I can't post from work, and I'm 3 hours behind, so I know the feeling about things having been said already. But I don't let that stop me!

I am! I am, RD! Devil in the White City is a really good (creepy) yarn, though not very well-written. He's not a stylist, he's a storyteller. I suffer from narrative greed and high literary standards both, so I read him compulsively while reviling myself for doing so.

The thing I know (and despise) about myself is that even though I have standards, I will plump for story (plot, narrative, heuristic pay-off) every time. Though not quite. I've thrown away airport novels after three pages ("Message in a Bottle" comes to mind) if they are horrendously illiterate, but I'll put up with bad style for good story.

Similarly, I could recommend some badly-written but compelling novels in a similar vein, and I could recommend some better-written but not very seductive modern works, by the same measure.

What I really love, though, and read and reread, are novels that stand the test of time, both stylistically and narratively. I think I've read Middlemarch 20 times (and if I'm spared will do so at least another 20), and it never gets old. Similarly other George Eliot, Austen, Bronte, Dickens, Richardson, Fielding (and some novels in other languages not familiar to this audience).

This is my measure though. Do you want to serve this at your friend's birthday? Then do it. Just crack it open and enjoy the rawness. It could get better with time, but it won't then have the charm it has now.

I couldn't read Patrick O'Brien (sorry Mudge) just because I found his style and punctation to be horrible to read. It's the same reason why Faulkner made me feel constipated after the first sentence, which took up half a page.

thanks for the compliment Yoki. I know I'm not always funny. I do gloomy, moody and downright suicidal well too.
You got me thinking though, well not only you to be honest; half a dozen women boodlers chimed in as well about the "male gaze" at work being a lot more reprehensible than in a neutral environment. But you started the discussion, I think, and you got me really thinking about real life cases.
At work, we have been hemorrhaging (sp?) bright, hard working, well rounded female engineers from a couple of our programs, well from one program in particular. My boss/I hire them but after 1-2 years they leave for greener pastures. It is really annoying me because a person, as bright as she/he might be, need at least a couple of years in this complicated technical/regulatory field to "get" it. So we lose those shiny pearls when they start to be self-confident, independant workers and useful by their own self. Shiny pearls are hard to find when all you have to offer is a beige cubicle and a gunmint salary, I sure wish I could keep them.
The manager of this high-intensity program is and immensely competent and pretty good guy but I've noted (I knew him from 10 years back) that he could give himself a spinal deconvolution when we happen to meet a good looking lady on a noon hour walk. It's pretty bad for a mid-fifties guy married to a beautiful woman but there you are. A couple of the dearly departed mention Mr. Spinning Head as a cause for their departure (no allusion to leering or male gazing though) but I think I truly get it now. The guy make them deeply uncomfortable. BTW, for the past couple of years I reached an agreement with our boss so that no promising female talent were to be sent to this program, so that we could at least keep the losses to a minimum. A younger co-worker (late thirties) and myself have no problem keeping female talent on staff so that wasn't the work itself.

One semi-comical note: Mr. Swivel-head is the only deeply and openly religious Christian in our group. I think I'll start lecturing him about the coveting of his neighbour's wife... heeheeheee

Shriek, will you please write to me (copying this very thoughtful and fine post) at dbioyoki@hotmail.com? I would like to talk to you about this disconnect between the female experience and the male gaze, but probably not here on the Boodle. Being an old feminist who lives the life, I think I have some insights that can help you (the best of Canadians!) navigate these murky waters.

Thank you all for the welcome - touching and not at all surprising (but I already knew that the Boodle embraces all). I echo Yoki however - for all those that think their poss are not on par with everyone else.

Slyness - I know! I have learned so much from here as well! Case in point - I impressed one of my Jewish friends today since Mr. Curmudgeon kindly taught us the proper greeting for Yom Kippur.

Wilbrod - just finished backboodling. I am sorry for your loss. My condolences to you and your family.

I'm so very sorry for your loss. As a great Aunt of mine told me at my father's death, no matter how prepared we are for another's passing, we're never really prepared. Or as she put it herself, "Honey, I watched your Uncle die by inches for months, and I was still surprised when it finally happened."

Blessings to you and your family as you come to grieve and celebrate your grandmother's life.

(Sorry for the formality, I'm a Southerner by birth and an English major by training. Sometimes it makes for convoluted prose.)

Thanks, CJ, and everybody else who has extended condolences. It did come as a surprise as there was no apparent dying of inches, just a heart attack Friday night, a weekend in hospital, then release back to home with drugs to take, and then another Tuesday early afternoon.

She wanted to die while she was still independent and not fully blind from macular degeneration. She was still driving, just not at night anymore.

The neutral wire leading from the pole transformer to our home broke last night at about 9.30. Subsequently, all of the fluorescennt lights we so thoughtfully put into our fixtures fried. The remaining incandescent lamps and the ceiling fans went bonkers, emitting insane amount of light, and reaching incredible speeds, respectively. Every GFCI tripped. I thought that the wiring in one room was on the verge of catching fire, as the air in the room was heavy with the smell of burnt plastic. Our cordless phone unit is toast. My daugther was using the computer, and the Mother Board fairies were hovering about, as it was spared. A friend of ours that works for the power company came by to fix it, and told me what had transpired: a tree limb, or perhaps a squirrell on said tree limb severed the neutral. We had a real Back to the Future moment. I really need Error's notes on rodent annihilation. the power company turned our oak into a flag tree to keep the powerlines in front of the house from harm, yet neglected to trim the tree that caused the problem tonight. I'm going to asssess the damage and attempt to get reparations in some manner, but only if there is damage worth seeking compensation for. Based on past experience, however, I think that this will fall into the Acts of God category. With that, I'm at point for the dawn patrol.

Milbank has a piece regarding a McCain/Palin political rally. It resembles the vignette in the Holy Grail when the alleged witch is brought before the village for judgement. The irony is that, assuming that the crowd is composed of people that describe themselves as Christians, they would expect to be treated as they treat others.

http://pages.prodigy.net/james_morrison/thelords.htm
More or less, we're all afflicted with the psychology
of the voyeur. Not in a strictly clinical or
criminal sense, but in our whole physical and
emotional
stance before the world. Whenever we seek to break
this spell of passivity, our actions are cruel and
awkward and generally obscene, like an invalid who
has forgotten how to walk.
~~~

The voyeur, the peeper, the Peeping Tom, is a dark
comedian. He is repulsive in his dark anonymity,
in his secret invasion. He is pitifully alone.
But, strangely, he is able through this same silence
and concealment to make unknowing partner of
anyone
within his eye's range. This is his threat and
power.

George Will truly is the Saberstatician of the Electoral College. Interesting juxtaposition here. From Will:

//Obama is competitive in so many states that President Bush carried in 2004 -- including Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Colorado and New Mexico -- it is not eccentric to think he could win at least 350 of the 538 electoral votes.//

From the article on overly strict voting registration rules:

//The screening or trimming of voter registration lists in the six states — Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Nevada and North Carolina — could also result in problems at the polls on Election Day//

Thought I'd check in before work since WORKING is getting in the way of boodling these days. Harrumph. I've been working a lot more than usual and it's making me cranky. Does that make me a bad person?

I just finished the last of my MBPH butter cake brought by the butter cake and earring angel, dbG. Oh my, it was good. It was a race to the finish between my son and I.

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Morning, friends. I spent most of the night at the emergency room, and got home pretty late. Yesterday I felt bad most of the day, and after the Bible study at church, just did not feel better, so I went to get checked out. I got a shot and some pain killers for muscle pain. I have a doctor's app. next month so will probably get further evaulation. Doing better this morning, just moving slow.

Scotty, will check out the pictures, and like the rest, I second your wonderful work.

Mudge, Martooni, good morning, and all the rest.*waving*

Slyness, I see you're up and about. It's raining here, and quite wet. Are you getting rain too?

I don't know, I like for the candidates to talk about what they're going to do. You know like a plan. I can understand why no one wants to do this. It will probably be painful no matter who it is from. But I really feel the Repubs don't have much to offer, and so now they do scare tactics. Oh, I'm afraid that because of this mess, and they never say "their mess", that the country needs to be in experienced hands. Well, look at what the "experienced hands" have done so far. That arguement is so broke down and dated, somebody needs to shoot the messenger. I smell desperation, and it stinks. And as for those Palin speeches that elicit racial garbage, yes, she should denounce that, but does she? Why would anyone want to isolate so many voters? Is this their true calling, is this what they truly love?

Have a great day, folks. And like I said yesterday, I'm sticking with what works, and that is prayer. Don't take my word, try it.

Thanks for the faieries, scotty, and btw, great pix. I may retrofit our electrical services with arc fault circuit breakers, although I feel pretty sure that they wouldn't affort us any more protection against the events of last night. Thank goodness we rewired the house. At this writing, our losses were limited to the base unit for the cordless phone and an electronic piano. The GFCI for the upstairs bathroom won't reset, and I have to check the wiring in the room where the piano is. Other than that, all is well.

Death, even when expected or even longed-for, leaves us with a loss to be mourned.
_________________
There's a puzzling situation in Ft. Myers, where the local sheriff, in uniform, vigorously participated in a political rally featuring a vice presidential candidate. There's concern that this elected official may have violated the Hatch Act (evidently on grounds that the Sheriff's Department gets federal funding). Wouldn't the rules be pretty clear-cut?? Would county commissioners or mayors be subject to the Hatch Act? Would the sheriff have been OK had he been wearing a suit and tie?

Firstly, thanks to scotty for all your hard work, somehow, tho, I think you enjoy being an official boodler photographer.

Cassandra, sending prayerful wishes for good health.

Slyness & all NC boodlers, can it be that NC is in play for the election? Both Wills and Larry Sabato (who left a link in my mailbox this morning) seem to think so. Sabato puts in his colored map of states, blue, red, pink, cream, light blue and now pink and blue stripes! He does a nice job with his analysis. I wonder if George Wills reads Sabato's web site? He is using the same 350 electoral college votes as Larry Sabato uses as not impossible for Obama to achieve.

Last night, while checking out Raisingkaine.com, a Virginia political blog, I saw a youtube clip of McCain speaking at a rally in PA this week. At one point in his speach, instead of saying "my fellow Americans", he said, "my fellow prisoners". Dailykos also picked up this blunder and sez he taking a diet supplement call Neuro1. Some think this is a sign of senility on McCain's part. I don't know what to think, it seems such an odd phrase. What do you all think?

Good morning all. Thanks to Scottynuke for the splendid pictures. I agree with yello, but think "radiant" actually describes everyone. Y'all just looked so happy to be there.

AZBlueHen, don't be shy. CJ, howdy.Depice (I think), manon, time to check in. Didn't I see moderate alien recently? and fifty has been hanging out too.

Feel better, Cassandra. I'm glad you got checked out.

Shrieking denizen, that was a great and thought-provoking story about your colleague and your attempts to hire and keep women. Good for you for recognizing and trying to address a problem that many companies prefer not to acknowledge.

Slyness, I don't think it's because of the trip, just my ongoing health issues that more than likely would do better with weight loss and more walking.

Vintage Lady

I'm not surprise by McCain's slip up, if indeed that was a slip up. The way that campaign has been going, perhaps he meant it. If anyone wants the definition of "desperation", all they need do is look at McCain.

I don't know, Vintage Lady, I think McCain might be feeling like a prisoner of his campaign right about now.

This morning I figured out how to fix the economic crisis. By all reports, despite the various governments' extraordinary measures to aid financial institutions and corporations and stem the crisis, "jittery investors" don't trust the fixes will work and keep the system in turmoil. Clearly, at this point, the problem is the jittery investors. I say, round 'em up. Offer them the choice of buying in and calming down or a stay in Guantanamo. Inform them that future jittery investors will be shot on sight. That should do it.

G'Day
I'm still trying to get my head around Jack's electrical problem. I thought that if the neutral severed both sides of the box would go dead. If the the neutral somehow became energized one side would be 240 and the other side would go dead or blow the the breakers, I think, mebbe.
Very interesting, but dangerous.
Off to google.

Sure, Scottynuke, but where's the fun in that? We're talking public example here. This panders to the public's need to punish those who are keeping us in this mess, and serves as a deterrent to future jittery investors.

I appreciate the candidates telling us what they want to do and how they plan to do so should they be elected to office, but I try to gauge what they *can* do.

I want world peace, but no one's going to elect me Grand Exhaulted Boobah of the World, even though I have a plan (A combination of The Golden Rule and knuckle-rapping - yes, it might need some work to get to implementation).

With that, I take campaign promises with a bit of a grain of salt. Not that they aren't worthy of listening and evaluation, but just because a canidate for an Executive office promises it does not mean that the others who have to work with them to enact legislation will go along with it.

For this Presidential election, one could make the case that with the Dems holding majority in both the House and Senate, Obama would be more effective than McCain.

I'm still recovering from last weekend. I went to sleep last night at 8pm, which helped a lot but means I'm way behind boodle-wise. I'm in awe of Achenbach's ability to jet around the country and keep up with career and family and house and garden, and stay healthy and cheerful through it all.

I wanted to give a shout-out to LTL-CA and say thanks for the metaphorical application of the Laws of Cybernetics in the previous boodle. Very nice.

Her is some word-origin trivia from the NYTimes: the word is "maverick."

The reason I look so radiant in the MBPH pixtures is that I'm three months pregnant. Just didn't want to tell anybody. You know how those late-in-life surprises are. On to other matters:

Making no progress at home with computer-fixin', alas. Gonna have to take both of them in to the shop. Main one needs Windows XP totally reloaded, methinks, and I don't have a disk. (They don't ship the *&^%$# software anymore; it comes pre-installed, and now I'm SOL.)

Actually enjoyed George Will's column, first in a very long time. And that Garrison Keillor column somebody (dbG?) linked to was really outstanding. He is SUCH a good writer, I'm always envious as hell when I read his essays.

I have finally lost the last vestiges of respect for the Nobel Lit committee, what few shreds I had left. Jeez. I think I've gotta dash off a memo to uncle King Carl XVI Gustaf to clean some major house over there. (And while he's at it move the "XVI" thang to the end of his name instead of the middle. Sometimes I think ol' C-16-G is loosin' it. His name looks like a polymer chain for epoxy.)

Boko - I'm wondering if the neutral actually ended up crossed with the opposing hot wire giving 240 on a 120 circuit. If the internal resistance was high enough this might not have pulled enough current to throw the circuit breakers.

Also, I apologize if I am telling you something you already know, but your computer might have a separate sector on the disk with the original installation on it. If it does you might be able to do a reinstall from there.

Yes, car stories would be lovely. And, about the Golden Rule, if you read Kant very deeply -- with a life-line to extract yourself from the very heady and uber-constructed German prose and thinking -- you find this:

About the Golden Rule, a note of caution. If we do unto others as we would have others do unto us, we MIGHT miss differences. So, good to ask or check with others about their preferences. Thus endeth the Quick Kant thought for the day.

From the other discussion about male and female gazing colliding in personal and professional interaction, I will finally check out a copy of

Polly Eisendrath-Young's book Women and Desire

One theme is to consider a shift from women (and men) as objects of desire to subject of desire, with "subject" an interior stance of independence, authority, humility, self-knowledge, and choice.

The book knits strands from Zen buddhism, humanist psychology, Jungian insights, myths and archetypes, and some stories from contemporary women.

Off to meet some lost students. Hope I can herd them back into the fold.

I have been wondering if whoever wins this election has any shot of being reelected in 4 years. And by that I mean: I wonder if what we (as in the gov't) do now or over the next year or 2 has any chance of getting things "back to normal" in a reasonable amount of time (before the next election). If not, the next president will look ineffective even if the policies were good but just needed a little more time.

RD. I'm having a hard time visualizing how a rodent could do that hanging out/delving into the house lead. I suspect the problem is in the transformer on account of them being so mysterious and ominous looking.

"McCain be taking" Obviously I haven't fully recovered from "Talk Like a Pirate Day."

S'nuke, but that would be a low-down sleazy regulation of mood and markets by the gummit, while Ivansmom's idea of course supports personal responsibility and is tough on crime, too, never mind the costs to society.

Thank you, Astromom. And, Wilbrod, there will be no costs to society. Under my plan, the compliant investors, no longer jittery, become part of the rebuilding of the economy. The jittery investors are suitably publicly punished, and their investment opportunities are offered to other, compliant, investors, further strengthening the system. My suggested use of Guantanamo will ensure continued employment for the Americans now working there. Finally, the "shoot on sight" proviso will further assuage the need to punish, serve as a deterrent, and make the gun nuts happy. Everybody wins!

Astromom, I think that when (not if) Obama wins, he'll have a good shot at re-election, assuming he does a reasonably good job fixing everything. Nobody inherited a worse economic mess than Roosevelt, and he got re-elected three more times, because people could see he was doing a good job.

The other thing is, an Obama win will sweep out the GOP pretty well, and they'll have to do a lot of rebuilding. I don't see any clear candidate who will lead the GOP in its reform and rebuilding, nor lead the way to a resurgence in 2012. Quite clearly McCain and Palin will BOTH be put out to pasture after their humiliating, Goldwaterish loss. You won't see anything of Thompson or Giuliani. Huckabee is gonna be popular, but he isn't built of the stuff needed to work behind-the-scenes as a party builder, nor a reformer; he's a "front" guy, not a party technician and builder. Romney only has about half those creds.

(My own pet theory is the GOP needs to rebuild itself in the model it had back in the 50s and 60s, expell bodily all the neocons and maybe half or two-thirds of the crazoid Conservs. The GOP has been fragmented for years, but until now it has managed to staple itself together into some coherent whole. I think that's gonna fracture on Nov. 6, and I don't see anyone able to put it back together any time soon. Thank goodness.)

And the other side of the coin is, while the GOP is fractured and rebuilding, the Dems with the backing of the White House can do some much-needed consolidating and shoring up their gains. There are a helluva lot of GOP Bums to kick out of office, and new people to be put in. That carries a lot of weight, as we've seen over the past 16 years.

Good question, astromom. I would hope that credit would be given for effort and progress in hopeful directions, but I do wonder whether we the public have realistic levels of patience. The subtitle on this front page story today makes that point:

"The point of the rescue package passed by Congress was to, well, rescue the system. What happened?"

Well, um, you were expecting a one-day fix?!?

I'm reminded of the election of the student body president my senior year of high school. The incumbent lost amid widespread frustration that the student parking lot had not been paved. Shortly after the election, paving began -- he had spent his year in office advocating for it, and the process had finally made its way through all the necessary channels. Of course, it was a failure in campaign strategy -- he didn't communicate to the student body that the paving was really in the works, and his opponent very successfully solicited votes from clueless freshmen through home phone calls. But the question remains whether an incumbent can win reelection when all anyone can see is an unpaved parking lot.

Mornin All
Beautiful fall day here,actually a little warm.I was doing a little yard work,sweeping the porches. I wanted to change out my flags.I took down the american flag I have at the end of my driveway. Well I went to fold it and it is a brand new flag.My old one was torn(it gets pretty windy here in the winter). I guess my sweetheart of a neighbor bought me a new flag and put it up near the road.

Country livin and great friends sure is a plus. I gotta do something nice for her.

I also think you guys are overlooking the incredible power of incumbency. Obama in 2012 will be the incumbent. Global Warming Czar Al Gore will have made major strides in that area, Biden will have negotiated an exit out of Iraq and a holding force in Afghanistan, Bin Laden will be dead, Hillary will be on the Supreme Court. Aaron Sorkin will be out of rehab and writing Obama's speeches. Warren Buffett will be Sec. of Treasury, and Gates will still be SecDef, and Chuck Nagel will be Sec. of Something or Other, as will Olympia Snow.

I wish I had your confidence, Curmudgeon. Living here in the heart of Red State Country I'm not so sanguine. It sure looks like Obama has a real chance to win, and in my heart I believe he will, but I can't yet regard it as sure. The economy's September Surprise worked in his favor in a big way, but I still worry about a potential October Surprise. I also worry that Palin will work up one of her lunatic fringe wingnuts with her barely-disguised racial rhetoric to the point where Obama's in real danger. I hope his Secret Service team is very alert.

Slyness, that's just great! Will keep my fingers crossed for NC. We tried to give Kim a little encouragement about VA. She is in a cul-de-sac down there at The Beach which has historicaly gone Republican but we believe the pennisula as a whole may go for Obama, this time. It is exciting to believe that he will win in VA!

'Mudge, I have no doubt that Obama will win.

This link:

http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/

will take you to Sabato's website, but inorder to read the newsletter I received this morning, you must sign up, online. It's quite good during elections. His analysis of states' races as well as the National Election is always interesting.

On the FDR comparison. Hoover was still in office for what 3-3.5 years after the 29 crash. By the time FDR was elected, I'm guessing that things were as bad as they could get and any new direction would help.

As a contrast, I'm not sure we've gotten to as bad as its gonna get, and that will likely happen on the next guy's watch not in the next 4 months. So the next president may not be seen as the guy to get us out of the mes, but rather the one in charge when things got even worse.

Of course I realize that what you do today is going to take some time to work its way through, but as bia noted, I'm not sure everyone does.

I understand RD, I know how to create the disk - as I had to learn out of necessity.

This morning as I saw the headlines questioning whether Palin will go on Saturday night live, and I thought of the movie "Man of the Year", this quote is along the lines of what I thinks she should say,

"Today I was in the oval office for a preparatory meeting and I sat behind the President's desk and I had a reality check. I sat there and I went 'Wait a minute, I'm a Jester. A Jester doesn't rule the kingdom; He makes fun of the king"

Ivansmom - I am trying not to get too hopeful either. There's still a lot of time between now and them - and still one more debate to go. At the risk of a sports metaphor I feel like we are moving into the ninth inning with a three-run lead, but it takes just one grand slam for everything to be for naught.

What is startling is that they waited this long to endorse, S'nuke. Obama has done gun control for cities, but agrees with the Supreme court ruling about the right to bear arms. It is a victory for the NRA, although I think gun control (not gun bans) is still on the table; even in the wild west, guns were banned in bars, and even up here in hunting country, guns are NOT welcome everywhere, while their owners are. This, in most eyes, does not infringe on the right to own and bear arms.

Sin tax! That's what we need. Add to the list of "sins" refusing to buy in to the bailout, and heavily tax those who have money but won't invest because they're jittery. That might be a greater deterrent than the threat of Guantanamo or being shot on sight, thouugh I advocate this as an additional punishment rather than a replacement. The tax proceeds can help recoup the cost of the bailout.

Is it really all that bad? Man, the gloom and doom. You would think people are afraid of jets falling from the sky, massive outbreaks of anthrax, the small pox virus, people rioting in the streets and dying of starvation like never before.

When I look around, I see football and baseball stadiums sold out every week, computers in every home, the poor not excluded, kids walking around with their cell phones, digital TVs hanging from walls, and a 2 to 1 ratio of Obama over McCain bumper stickers on their Lexus.

I don't think Obama can save this world any more than McCain can destroy it.

Padouk has it correct. Dropping the neutral can NOT cause the described problem. ONLY a short from the other side of the 240 coil, to (touching) the neutral, inside or outside of the transformer, could have caused this problem. It's conceivable the other side of the 240 shorted to the neutral somewhere outside the house, or inside the house wiring in which case it would show either in a main junction box or wiring to a clothes dryer, electric stove, or possibly furnace.

I suspect the racial thing is not off the table at anytime where Obama is concerned and knowing how the climate can get here at times. And with Palin giving these folks a door to go through, it's not good. If anything does happen because of her rhetoric, I wonder if she would take responsibility for that? I doubt it, but I don't think Alaska would be far enough.

mudge and VL - you're scaring me! I remain in the hopeful but not optimistic camp. I wish I was more confident. Perhaps being surrounded by really strong Republicans has skewed the perspective of Ivansmom and me...I can only hope.

Last night, the hubby and I were talking about living here and feeling outnumbered and a little beleagured in past elections. This is the first election, though, that I feel like I'm living in a parallel universe. Those of us firmly in one camp or another always wonder how on earth THEY (opposite party)can see things a certain way, believe they are all wet on issues, etc. But, I simply cannot "get" how anyone of any political stripe can think, believe that Palin is qualified to be VP. How is this possible? She WINKED at the camera during a debate, fer cryin' out loud!

Thanks to Snuke for the link to NY Times on voter suppression. I have emailed it and my concerns to appropriate politicos nearby. Fairly obscure politicos who yet have sway, and who may actually READ my email.

Most people nationally would be surprised at the role NC has taken since '04 in cleaning up possibilities for "hacking" elections. Our computer professionals screamed bloody murder and the legislators listened. Many of the activists were nominal Republicans (who knows what they are now?) who not only didn't like what they saw as undemocratic shenanigans inside the party system, but also understand that hackable elections are also open to control by, oh, let's say Russia, various oil states, even France for crying out loud.

And in any case, yes, NC IS now important to the national races. See
http://www.electoral-vote.com/index.html

My neighbor has been recommending the site 23/6 for a while but I just got around to it. Here's one of their "debate in one minute" offerings on the VP debate:
http://www.236.com/video/2008/watch_vp_debate_in_a_minute_9334.php

Also, am looking for a right-wing comments section somewhere to drop a recent article on McCain's five airplane disasters. Maybe the John Birch Society. They look pretty reasonable, compared to, you know, some other types.

Finally! An op-ed piece offering hope on the economy:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/08/AR2008100802931.html

One of the authors was economic adviser to Mike Gravel during the 2008 Democratic Primary, so I don't think he's one of the administration's shills.

Ivansmom, I love your idea about punishing those pulling $ out of the market. Just yesterday a co-worker and I were discussing whether paying taxes was patriotic. I said that I didn't know about that but I do feel it's my patriotic duty to leave my money where it is. It may not be the best thing for me personally, but so much better for the economy as a whole. Inertia as a virtue--I love it!

Everytime I hear the phrase "right to bear arms" in conjunction with Obama, I think about Michelle Obama and the likely impact of her time as first lady on the fashions of the U.S. Not only the right to bare arms, but also, bare legs: sleeveless tops and no pantyhose! I'm already wearing fewer long-sleeved blouses to work, in anticipation of the new era.

I appreciate the request, but I don't have time for a car story at the moment.

Also, as many of you know, I tend to become a little, er, *involved* with those. It can emotional and, hmm, - dare I say it? - *sensual* experience for me to write them well.

Can't really write them at the office, as there's no place to have a nice hot bath with candles and a bottle of wine. And a freshly laundered Gladiator outfit and a bottle of EV olive oil for afterwards.

Poor, poor John McCain. Dissed by yet another singer/rock group whose songs he has stolen.

Foo Fighters tell McCain to stop using song

From AP

Wednesday, October 8, 2008; 9:30 PM

NEW YORK -- Yet another band is complaining about John McCain's use of their song to promote his campaign. This time, it's the Foo Fighters.

The rockers sent out a missive telling the Republican presidential candidate to stop using "My Hero." They said they learned it was being use through news reports.

"The saddest thing about this is that `My Hero' was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential," the band said in a statement. "To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song."

The band noted it's not the first time McCain has been told to stop using a song. John Mellencamp, Heart and Jackson Browne have also complained. Browne even filed a lawsuit.

Soul legend Sam Moore also has asked the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to stop using "Soul Man."

-------------

C'mon, Boodle. I think that collectively we can help ol' Johnm come up with a rock anthem to replace all those (many) he's been denied. Come, let us work through the roster and see what we can find:

Running Scared
The Great Pretender
(All I Have to Do Is) Dream
Shake, Rattle and Roll
Old Rivers
Theme song from (My) Friends
Do-Wacka-Do
What a Fool Believes
Hard Night for Sarah
Big Bad John
The B1tch Is Back
Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
By the Time I Get to Phoenix
Twist and Shout
Until It's Time for You to Go
Walk on By

McCain was irritatingly patronizing in the debate. I hate the way he seemed to think he was talking to children by his tone. Re: looking Obama in the eyes - it is hard to look in the eyes someone you have been slandering when you know you have been lying. McCain's biggest problems are credibility and likeability. I loathe him. The thought of him becoming President makes me ill. I can't stand his wife, and the people I see surrounding him at his rallies as shown on TV look creepy.

It's not just musicians who are pissed, Mudge. Daughter found this paragraph the other day

"The original maverick, it turns out, was Samuel Augustus Maverick, a noteworthy figure in the early days of the state of Texas. Maverick, for whatever reason, didn't like to brand his cattle, and livestock he owned wandered about unmarked. And so the word maverick came to mean cattle that bore no man's brand, and, ultimately, people who were utterly independent.

"The original Maverick's descendants are horrified to hear presidential candidate John McCain appropriating the word to describe himself. Samuel Maverick's granddaughter, a progressive Texan, explains, 'He's a Republican. He's branded.'"

Rented Iron Man and it's very good for the genre. And I'm old and skeptical. Although, granted, a sucker for comic book superhero movies. Downy is great in it. I'm going to be surprised if I find Ed Norton pulls off Hulk 2. It's the first "all Marvel" production. I would rank it as high as Spider Man 1.

I see I missed Captain America's shield in the DVD.
http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/05/09/captain-americas-shield-found-in-iron-man/
I have been noticing it on the Colbert Report set. It's a great icon. I want a lapel pin modeled on it.

Eruption (Van Halen)
Iced Over and/or Rude Mood (SRV)
Soul Sacrifice
Sometimes A Fantasy and/or I Go to Extremes) (Billy Joel, and I won't mention another of Joel's songs that would just be too cruel)
I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)
Driven to Tears

Yes boko it's a beautiful day and I'm stuck inside and work is raining on me and I can't take the day off for a four day weekend because of a stoopid meeting and, the Nobel literature committe members are useless ninnies and, and whattaday.

Michel Tournier is the greatest French author living today and he ain't getting any younger. If they were to go for a Frenchman why not pick one who writes stories, not travel diaries.

Last French Nobel Lit winner: Gao Xingjian in 2000. I'm not making this up. I don't who who he is.
The one before: Claude Simon in 84, plodder of the Nouveau Roman style. Why not Robbe-Grillet, the initiator of the style or Michel Butor, its most accomplished practitioner? Bunch of ninnies I'm telling you.

Love the idea of shooting the jittery investors Ivansmom. Let them out in orange jumpsuit in Gitmo and tell them one will be randomly shot every hour until they all stop trembling in fear. Or better yet, snipers could shoot the vile predators from helicopters swooping down the canyons of Manhattan. That would make good TV.

Don Quijote and Sancho Porcher
War and Boodle
All quiet on the Western Porch
Les Boodlerables
Robinson Porcher
The Spy Who came out of the Boodle
Porchnoi's Complaint
A Small Porch in Germany
The Maltese Porcher
Mein Porch
Shake Hands with the Boodle
For Whom the Boodle Porches
Far Away the Mountain Porch
The Rains of Ranjiporch
Porchwani Junction
Alice in Boodleland
Boodling for Private Ryan
Porchmaker
A Hundred Years of Boodlitude

I started watching the terror video sent by mail. First thing I got hot about is the "War on Terror" which means a war on fear, which obviously we don't have. What we have had is a campaign to keep Americans terrified while scoundrels have their way with our Constitution and our economy.
I'm all for a "War on Terrorism" especially if it is conducted on a battlefield or by surgical strike when necessary and where appropriate, and in the arena of ideas when necessary and where appropriate.
One thing about the video is that it pointed out the alternate locations of such extremism, which include Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt, and elsewhere all over Africa. To concentrate solely on Osama and the mountains of Pakistan is inane, and I wish both candidates could speak more frankly about this. Without, of course, "telegraphing."

A codger of McCain Supporters
A fey of Palin fans. (Or perhaps a feh of Palin supporters.)
A bunch of female college students would be a leer of coeds.
A mixed group of college kids would be a dude of college kids.
A group of male college kids would be a bong of college boys.
A group of high school boys would be a like, dude of HS boys.
A group of HS girls would be a harpy.
A group of Internet trolls would be a snark of trolls.
A collection of rightwing pundits --Coulter, Malkin, Limbaugh, Hanratty, O'Reilly, Krauthammer, Kristol, etc. -- would be an illhumanati.

A derrida of English majors
A mapplethorpe of art majors
A linear regression of statistics majors
A blathering of political science majors
An irritation of IT majors (and an irritant of Help Desk staffers)
A dos equis of Women's Studies majors (think about it)
A tumult of business majors
A di1do of philosphy majors
A survey instrument of sociology majors
A lector of psychology majors
A woodstein of print journalism majors
A bimbo of TV journalism majors
A hernia of phys ed majors
A metronome of music majors
A stamen of botany majors
A postule of biology majors

This is a link to a NY Times piece about Michelle Obama, fashion, politics. It's from June 8, but I hadn't seen it before. Those of you who tire of the fashion discussion need not click:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/fashion/08michelle.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
The article contains the word "coterie".

Zen and the Art of BPH Maintenance
Tess of the Boodlevilles
The Kit and the Floss
Writers of the Purple Page
Boodleship Down
Wilbrodog, Come Home
A Confederacy of Boodlers
Message in a Boodle
The Helotes Mulch Fire of the Vanities

and FYI: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/sleuth/2008/10/no_one_is_laughing_harder.html

Right before lunch it was only down 30 or 40 points. Now down 610 with 7 minutes to go. Sheesh.

The thing is, these traders are crazy. This is all psychological panic. There's no rhyme or reason to it. That the economy (that holy of holies, "The Market") is beinf ruined by crazy people is a scandal. They need to shut that thing down before somebody gets hurt.

Sorry – I do confess to enjoying the discussion without contributing. I am in the habit of enjoying this blog most often in the morning with my breakfast - a new kit & boodle is frequently up and going by the time I’m eating breakfast on the west coast. But while my receptive language systems are generally up and running after the first sip of coffee, my expressive language systems don’t tend to come online until I get to work around 8. (And even then it’s iffy for the first half hour). Today I happen to be checking in during lunch which – alas – is now over….

Raysmom, the circuit breakers for when trading is stopped vary from index to index. It's set for the Dow at the beginning of the month based on the average at the end of the previous month. I think it's down 1000 points or thereabouts this month. If the drop is from 3-4 p.m., it isn't stopped, just keeps falling.

cold cold heart - norah jones
crash - dmb
demon days - gorillaz
diggin a ditch - dmb
disintegration - the cure
enough is enough - donna summer
hey big spender - sweet charity
house we used to live in - the smithereens
i did it my way - sinatra
if this world were mine - marvin gaye
it's called a heart - depeche mode

In the Heat of the Boodle
Fanny Porch
Hansel and Boodle
The English Porcher
Boodle Story ("Love means never having to say you're porching.")
A Connecticut Avenue Porcher in King Arthur's Boodle
Le Mort du Kit
Gone With the Boodle

Wasn't Ivansmom being ironic? I mean, obviously about Guantanamo, but in general about it being unpatriotic to sell your stock? Isn't it a little unfair to bail out banks but tell me it's unpatriotic to try to salvage some of my money?

'twas me who said that, Wheezy. The reason is that if everyone acts in their own self-interest and sells now to hold onto what's left, the whole thing will collapse, and quick. I might be the bigger fool for it, but I'm doing what is best for the economy as a whole. Plus I don't have to find those pesky account logins.

I would like to say I am doing my best to protect the Canadian market as well, because I truly believe if I cashed in that $80 worth of stock I have we would all be in trouble. Sadly that $80 was once about $1500 and if had nothing to do with the recent crash - just call it a bad stock tip from my husband.

As I have said before I am afraid to look at my retirement account which is in an envelop on the hall table - unopen and may be filed that way - great tip Raysmom.

CJ and brag, thank you - you each started an avalanche of much Boodle fun. Titles and cohorts - all great. Also, I think Mudge began the McCain songs. Wotta great afternoon!

Wheezy, I just did the "round up the jittery investors" plan. I admit Guantanamo is pretty extreme (though I like the helicopter-hunting through the canyons of Wall Street) but the events of today just convince me we need to round those folks up and do something to them. Forced reassurance, that's what we need. I still think that "play nice or we'll tax you, take away your investment money and give it to someone else" has possibilities. The "shoot you on sight" option is just viscerally attractive.

My point, and I believe Raysmom's as well, is that if you do not need money within, say, five years, pulling money out of the market now does nothing but drive prices down for no good reason. It is irrational unless the individual is swearing off the market forever.

Again, this only applies to people who do not need that money very, very soon. Of course, and forgive me if this sounds judgmental, but in my opinion anyone who needs money within five years shouldn't really have that money in the market at all. They should have it in CDs. Or a bank. Which is where my son's college fund has been since 2003.

Again, I understand that some people have been forced to rely in the market for near-term income. And these people have nothing but my sympathy.

Ivansdad and the Boy say our title collection is no more than "merlocking" - apparently a World of Warcraft phenomenon. Merlocks are low-level WOW characters which resemble walking fish and have an odd moan; occasionally someone will start substitute "merlock" for a word in a sentence and the thing will go on for a while. I told them it was nothing like that.

RD, our bunny Beatrice still occasionally runs around the place like a mad thing, back and forth. Then she stops and looks as if butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

I agree with RD and Raysmom. It's easy for me to say that since my main savings is in a money market fund (stashed it there about a year ago).

The stock market fund we have has been a dollar-cost averaging program I've been doing for the past 9 years. That's the fund that's been cut in half. I'd be stupid to sell now; I see it at it as a buying opportunity, plain and simple. But like RD says, I'm fortunate I don't need that money right now. Who knows what the future holds?

I've been telling Son of G and my young co-workers that this is a gift they're being handed, investment-wise. One of them could be the next Warren Buffett or Sir John Templeton.

Boodlemarch
Boodle and Prejudice
Bleak Boodle
One Boodle in the Life of Ivan Danisovitch
Born Boodle
Bright Lights Big Boodle
Setting Free the Boodle
A Prayer for Joel Achenbach
The World According to Boodle

I finished that DVD on Islamofascist
oterroro. ("Obsession")
http://www.obsessionthemovie.com/
I got in the mail. I'm sure those interested can track down the dirty details of who is behind it all. Although Fox News popped up pretty quick, they, I think, are just sort of along for the ride. But maybe I'm wrong. The "nut", i.e., the payoff, is in the middle of the third part, talking about the "black house" the Islamoterroros are seeking. Hoo ha!

Perhaps I should write my essay on the War on the Age of Reason, being conducted by Religion Hijackers. They seem to be, AHEM, everywhere.

Yes, we're using more words than merlock, and also plumbing our literary and kiterary knowledges.

One flew over the Cuckoo's Kit
The Wind through the Boodle
The Bridges of Mianus Country
Run Rabbit Run, (Wilbrodog's around)
Isle of the Blue Bottoms
Far from the Madding Thong
Across Five Lurkers
Too late the Pultizer

I've been to the library also, and loaded up on cookbooks. I love cookbooks and design books. And that song, Walk on By, sung by Dionne Warwick is soooo great. Let us not smear it with thoughts of McCain and Co.

Slyness, I saw on television news in Charlotte, Crisis Ministry had a line around the block, a lot of people. I hope they were able to help all.

I love it when you murmur French at me over the international ether-transom. Sigh, might be the phone book. I only know Frere Jacques, Sur le Pont Avignon, and Claire de Lune. The nuns made sure we could sing those, we non Canocki, non Francophone kidlings.

A question for the rabbit caretakers - do rabbits just kind of quiver all the time? I know they twitch their nose quite a bit (like tail-wagging for dogs?) I'm rabbit-sitting and it's been over a week now. i don't want to cause Bunny undue stress so any tips for making him feel more comfortable would be appreciated.

I think the only time he likes me is when I give him those yogurt treat bits.

That Brel lyric is going to take a lot of rereading for me to really get. I've been through it a couple of times with the handy dictionnaire, and I think it's wonderful, even though my understanding is dim. The flavor of it is very strong, so to speak.

Hmm. Can't say I have ever seen a lot of quivering. Bunnies are extremely sensitive to their environment. This is what comes from being near the bottom of the food chain.

Winning Lagomorph trust is hard. You cannot go to them, you must let them come to you. Is this a house bunny? If that is the case the best thing you can do is sit on the floor if you are so limber, or near the floor if you are not, and do something quiet. Might I recommend reading or using a laptop. The rabbit will eventually come close to you to investigate. When that happens you might slowly hold out a raisin and let the rabbit take it. But be patient. The important thing is to not make the rabbit feel as if it is being hunted.

You know you have succeeded when you see the rabbit jump around as if it is having a small seizure. This is "binking" and means you are in the presence of a happy bunny.

Hm - yes, bunny just crouches and twitches nose, kind of quivers. No vents directed at his direction (though I do leave a fan on during the day) and not a high traffic area. No cover on his cage but I might try that tonight.

No loud noises, but I do talk to him - I thought that might make him used to me. Wrong approach?

NPR had a pre-Nobel Lit prize interview predicting that an American wouldn't win. The only two Americans to win in the past 3o years were Saul Bellow and Toni Morrison. They said that not only was being American the kiss of death, being virulently anti-American was an advantage.

RD, about the raisins and bunnyland. Raisins look a bit like bunny business. My three youngest siblings were not clear about the difference, to my mother's horror. Bunnies were not allowed as much free reign after that.

Oh - just saw RDP's post. Yes, house bunny. I do let him out of his cage to hop around for a bit, but I must confess I do watch him very closely as I have heard that he has an odd habit of nibbling on cords. He seems to be OK then - just hops to a spot, sit a bit, hop to another spot. I sit on the floor when I let him out.

Sorry, I had Brel on my mind. His family, his daughter I think, put lots of his stuff for sale at auction this week and it made the news.

Just to spite the Nobel committee ninnies I have started reading 'Le roi des Aulnes' (The Ogre) by Tournier. That will teach them. I gave Le Clézio too much credit earlier today, I should have written "INSCRUTABLE travel diaries".

If it makes you feel any better, AZB, my new Siamese cat is still like that with me. He's rather warmed to Himself and #2, but when I'm in the vicinity he freezes, slinks, and disappears under any handy piece of furniture. And it's not just me, the dogs too (what's up with that?!). He came here on July 10, and he's only just beginning to open up. I do what has been recommended to you by the bunny-experts. Sit quietly cross-legged on the floor (away from him) and when he approaches me I say nothing, just occasionally offer a kitty-treat. In the last four days he's let me give him a butt-scritch twice. This is great progress.

Bunnies don't care if you talk are not. And eye contact is not something that they crave because this is something predators do. Remember, the role of bunnies in nature is pretty much as high quality protein. Their goal in like is to not get eaten. This is why, when threatened, a bunny will always run into its cage.

The secret is to just let them get used to you and let them make the first move.

Go ahead and talk, AZBlueHen. I talk to Beatrice all the time. She seems to like it, or at least she doesn't do the equivalent of rabbit running screaming. She does tend to sit and shake very very slightly sometimes; I think it is just her metabolism. Beatrice likes to be petted on what would be the bridge of our nose, in the equivalent skeletal spot - the strip above her nose to between her ears. She loves that. If Sitting Bunny gets close to you, try it. I often just sit on the floor and read while she's out (or talk to her), keeping an eye out for cord-chewing. To an extent she has learned not to do that, but she's a rabbit. Give her enough yogurt drops & she'll follow you anywhere. Good snacks other than raisins & yogurt drops: baby carrots, raw whole sugar snap pea pods, slices of apple. Beatrice likes tomato tops. Just a little at a time.

I agree, RD, rabbits are fascinating. I think this is partly because, though she is trainable and clearly remembers certain routines very well (she always hops out to wake the Boy in the morning), she's still a wild animal in a way that a cat or dog can't be.

Ivansmom - that's exactly where I pet Cosmo! I think he likes that. It's just that his ears go back so was not entirely sure if that meant "OK I'm just tolerating this but I wish you'd go away" to "Oh - that's nice." He's actually hopped toward me when he hears me opening the treat bag.

I think I'll actually be sorry to see him go next week when his mom gets home.

AZBlueHen, if you've got him letting you rub his nose and coming for treats, you're good to go. Beatrice's ears go back, but I think it is to get them out of the way. I know she likes it because if I stop before she's ready she butts my hand with her head. Hard. Sometimes she grunts.

I myself was surprised at how quickly I fell for the rabbit. Originally her acquisition was on the Boy's behalf. Even Ivansdad, who was unaware we were going to acquire a rabbit, has succumbed to her charm. Somewhat.

Brag - why would Lorinda singing the song J'Atends anger Bomondo? Or if I am patient will this become clear later? If so, and it is soon, please ignore this question as I'll find out by the time you see it.

Is anyone else as sad as I am that Adrian Higgins and Michael Dirda's Chat have gone? I learned so much from both of them. Why did the Post close them down, or did they do it? I missed whatever explanations they gave.

Eek, Maggie! I saw a reference to Adrian's chat going away, but didn't know Dirda's was too. I've been so busy lately I haven't been able to keep up with them. What a shame! Who do we know at the Post we can complain to?!? (Pardon the grammar in that sentence.)